Landslide derails passenger train at Gillingham (28/11/2009)

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

A passenger train was derailed in Dorset after a landslide pushed a tree on to the track.

No-one was hurt in the incident, which happened near Gillingham shortly after 1930 GMT on Saturday.

The first carriage of the three-carriage train came off the tracks near Bugley Tunnel. British Transport Police said the train remained upright.

The line is expected to remain closed until Thursday to allow Network Rail to clear and repair the track.

The derailed train was the 1720 GMT South West Trains service from Waterloo to Yeovil Junction.

Officers from British Transport Police, Dorset Police, as well as fire and ambulance crews attended the scene.

Network Rail said 40 tonnes of debris were washed down on to the railway track from the cutting because of the bad weather.

A company spokeswoman said it had almost finished clearing the debris but further work was need to repair 600 concrete sleepers which had been damaged.

A bus replacement service is now operating from Yeovil to Gillingham.

[devon_metro]

Lets just say its a good job it happened in a tunnel...

[The Grecian]

I presume they mean Buckhorn Weston Tunnel as a google search reveals Bugley Tunnel exists only in the imagination of the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page), the Bournemouth Echo and whoever came up with the press release.

Anyway at least no-one was hurt although as Gillingham-Honiton and Yeovil-Honiton are now both bustituted this week I'd give that line a miss for a few days. Unless you have a passion for rail replacement buses.

[paul7575]

Gillingham Tunnel nowadays, according to Network Rail's signage at the tunnel entrances...

By the way, another landslide this morning just north of Upwey (and those are some big embankments) has led to a SLW shuttle service between Dorchester South and Weymouth. I think FGW^▸ (First Great Western) are terminating at Dorchester West.

Paul

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thanks, Paul.

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

A second landslip on a Dorset railway line in the past three days has disrupted train services.

The landslip, at Upwey, near Weymouth, happened at about 1000 GMT on Tuesday.

South West Trains said journeys may be delayed by up to 40 minutes, while some trains were starting and terminating at Dorchester South or Bournemouth.

On Saturday, a passenger train on the London Waterloo to Yeovil Junction line was derailed near Gillingham after a landslip pushed a tree on to the track.

About 40 tonnes of debris was washed down onto the track from the cutting because of the bad weather.

The train remained upright and no-one was seriously hurt.

A SWT^▸ (South West Trains) spokesman said they had been advised by Network Rail the line at Upwey would reopen on Wednesday.

He added the line at Gillingham was expected to reopen from first thing on Thursday.

In the meantime, a shuttle train service is running between Weymouth and Dorchester South.

On First Great Western services, buses are replacing trains between Weymouth and Dorchester West.

A bus replacement service is operating between Yeovil and Gillingham.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) website:

The RAIB is carrying out an investigation into the derailment of train 1L53, the 17:20 hrs service from London Waterloo to Yeovil Junction, at about 19:20 hrs on 28 November 2009.  The derailment occurred in a cutting on a single line section of the route between Gillingham (Dorset) and Templecombe, at a location about 200 m before the eastern portal of Gillingham Tunnel (also known as Buckhorn Weston Tunnel).  The train was travelling at about 60 mph.
 
The immediate cause of the derailment was the train running through debris from a land slip.  The train remained upright and entered the tunnel. It contacted the tunnel wall and came to a stand with the rear of the three carriage train about 135 m from the portal.  After a period of time, all persons were safely evacuated with the assistance of the emergency services and railway staff. No injuries to passengers or the staff have been reported.  The damage to track was extensive.

The RAIB's preliminary examination indicates that the train was driven correctly.  There is no evidence that the condition of the railway signalling system contributed to the derailment.

The RAIB^s investigation is independent of any investigations by the safety authority.

The RAIB will publish a report, including any recommendations to improve safety, at the conclusion of its investigation. This report will be available on the RAIB website.

[JayMac]

From the RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) website:

The RAIB will publish a report, including any recommendations to improve safety, at the conclusion of its investigation. This report will be available on the RAIB website.

As I've said elsewhere, I look forward to reading the RAIB report sometime in 2011.

Cynical? Moi? 

[Chris from Nailsea]

Less of your cynicism, young bignosemac! 

The RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) have now published their full report, which is available on their website.

CfN. 

[JayMac]

Okay, the RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) seem to be completing their reports in a more timely fashion these days.   

I got the email notification earlier today as well. Thought I'd leave you to post the report link, Chris. 

[paul7575]

There have been a number of RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) reports into earthworks failures over the last few years.

The common feature of the reports seems to be that even back under BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)), maintenance was mainly reactive after failures, and very few people seemed to know what they are supposed to have been inspecting anyway...

In this particular case they seem to have been pretty lucky, the tunnel portal wouldn't have been too forgiving if the running line had been further over to the left in the direction of travel...

[The Grecian]

The line used to be further to the left as well. When it was singled in 1967 the up line (on the right hand side running west) was the retained line, although it was slewed slightly more towards the centre I think.

[eightf48544]

The line used to be further to the left as well. When it was singled in 1967 the up line (on the right hand side running west) was the retained line, although it was slewed slightly more towards the centre I think.

Thought for the day.

Does the presence of trees exacerbate the problem?

Saw a presentation of slides from the 60s last week. Cutting and embankment sides were almost like lawns, very few bushes let alone trees but then steam was a very good schrub clearer.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Does the presence of trees exacerbate the problem?

The report fingers the trees that are just over the fence at the top of the cutting, which might well have been present even in steam days.

But the report is pretty scary stuff. Perhaps that's why they've got this out comparatively quickly. There's an awful lot of work involved in the recommendations, and figure 11 indicates that a lot of the problem is in the Western zone. Not sure why that should be - is it the general geology of our area?

And a recent BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) news item (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11601014) suggested that it can only get worse...!